Officials Work To Remove Body From Desert Cavern 'Respectfully'

Efforts resumed today to recover a man's body found in a deep mud cave near where a college student went missing while exploring a rugged East County desert wilderness area nearly a month ago.

The remains were discovered a short distance from the last known whereabouts of 24-year-old Guillermo Pino, but it was not immediately clear if they were those of the UC San Diego psychology major, according to sheriff's officials.

Pino was reported missing April 8 while he and family members were exploring the Arroyo Tapiado area of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, a locale also known as "the Badlands."

Family members who continued to search for him over the last four weeks reported finding the body Saturday evening, using a camera lowered about 60 feet down a shaft inside a mud cavern, according to sheriff's officials.

Deputies examined the video Sunday and sent in a cave expert who confirmed the presence of the body in the crevasse. Crews then tried in vain to access the body from underneath, due to the danger of trying to get to it from above in the unstable cavern.

State Parks officials planned to send a geologist to the site to determine if it would be safe for a recovery team to "respectfully and carefully" remove the body, according a statement from the sheriff's department.

About 30 people were aiding in the recovery effort, including deputies, firefighter, search-and-rescue volunteers, a sheriff's helicopter crew, American Red Cross personnel and cave experts from San Bernardino County.

-- City News Service